[ EDITORIAL ]

Lakeland Police Oversight: Affidavit Signatures a Sham

Published: Saturday, June 22, 2013 at 12:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, June 21, 2013 at 11:02 p.m.

Here's one Lakeland Police officer's idea of truthful-and-proper evidence for use in court during a DUI trial, during which he testified Tuesday:

■ Fill out only the first page of a six-page affidavit detailing a defendant's refusal to take a breath-alcohol test.

■ Sign the single page jointly with the defendant. (The signatures swear that all pages of the affidavit are true.)

■ Wait for days to fill out the remaining five pages.

It wasn't enough that Officer David Edds had testified to the details of this dishonest routine. He also testified that he follows the practice frequently.

Edds said he is not the only officer involved in the false-affidavit routine at the Lakeland Police Department.

He testified that another Lakeland Police officer notarized the signatures five days after they had been made on the Breathalyzer-refusal affidavit.

Nor, Edds testified, did the second officer have him swear to its contents, reported The Ledger's Jeremy Maready, along with John Chambliss and Matthew Pleasant, in an article Friday.

The officer's testimony was elicited by Thomas Grajek, a lawyer for defendant Kenneth Scott Barber. In October, Barber was charged with driving under the influence. He was found not guilty Tuesday.

If all that was not enough, Grajek asked Edds whether he changed the date on the affidavit after it was completed. Edds testified that he did.

After comments from lawyers on both sides of the case that these actions were improper and possibly subject to prosecution, Polk County Judge J. Kevin Abdoney called a recess.

JUDGE SPEAKS BLUNTLY

Abdoney sent the jurors and Edds out of the courtroom. He addressed the lawyers for both the prosecution and defense.

"Either this is an inexperienced officer who made some stupid mistakes, and he's going to be drug through the mud and his career potentially seriously impacted," Abdoney said, "or you have got a professional liar that the state is putting their professional stamp of approval on because of a lack of preparation."

Police Chief Lisa Womack ordered an internal investigation Wednesday over Edds' actions and the State Attorney's Office served him with a subpoeana Thursday.

This is not the only recent instance of a Lakeland Police officer providing inappropriate or poor testimony in court.

In two letters to Womack on March 26, State Attorney Jerry Hill blamed Sgt. Felicia Wilson and the Lakeland Police Department for a mistrial in a shooting prosecution.

Hill said he would no longer use Wilson as a witness without a corroborating witness, Maready reported in an article April 4.

"When a nine-time convicted felon shoots another citizen and LPD handles the investigation as it did in this case, the citizens of Lakeland are not well served," Hill wrote in one of the letters.

"She simply couldn't recite any facts or details about the case," Hill told Maready about Wilson.

When police officers cannot give usable testimony on cases prosecuted in court, they leave the residents of Lakeland unprotected.

When such egregious flaws in Womack's officers turn up, and then turn up again, the police chief is failing to meet the minimum level of performance required for her position and for her department.

<p><i> Part 1 of 4 </i></p><p>Here's one Lakeland Police officer's idea of truthful-and-proper evidence for use in court during a DUI trial, during which he testified Tuesday:</p><p>■ Fill out only the first page of a six-page affidavit detailing a defendant's refusal to take a breath-alcohol test.</p><p>■ Sign the single page jointly with the defendant. (The signatures swear that all pages of the affidavit are true.)</p><p>■ Wait for days to fill out the remaining five pages.</p><p>It wasn't enough that Officer David Edds had testified to the details of this dishonest routine. He also testified that he follows the practice frequently.</p><p>Edds said he is not the only officer involved in the false-affidavit routine at the Lakeland Police Department.</p><p>He testified that another Lakeland Police officer notarized the signatures five days after they had been made on the Breathalyzer-refusal affidavit.</p><p>Nor, Edds testified, did the second officer have him swear to its contents, reported The Ledger's Jeremy Maready, along with John Chambliss and Matthew Pleasant, in an article Friday.</p><p>The officer's testimony was elicited by Thomas Grajek, a lawyer for defendant Kenneth Scott Barber. In October, Barber was charged with driving under the influence. He was found not guilty Tuesday.</p><p>If all that was not enough, Grajek asked Edds whether he changed the date on the affidavit after it was completed. Edds testified that he did.</p><p>After comments from lawyers on both sides of the case that these actions were improper and possibly subject to prosecution, Polk County Judge J. Kevin Abdoney called a recess.</p><p><b>JUDGE SPEAKS BLUNTLY</b></p><p>Abdoney sent the jurors and Edds out of the courtroom. He addressed the lawyers for both the prosecution and defense.</p><p>"Either this is an inexperienced officer who made some stupid mistakes, and he's going to be drug through the mud and his career potentially seriously impacted," Abdoney said, "or you have got a professional liar that the state is putting their professional stamp of approval on because of a lack of preparation."</p><p>Police Chief Lisa Womack ordered an internal investigation Wednesday over Edds' actions and the State Attorney's Office served him with a subpoeana Thursday.</p><p>This is not the only recent instance of a Lakeland Police officer providing inappropriate or poor testimony in court.</p><p>In two letters to Womack on March 26, State Attorney Jerry Hill blamed Sgt. Felicia Wilson and the Lakeland Police Department for a mistrial in a shooting prosecution.</p><p>Hill said he would no longer use Wilson as a witness without a corroborating witness, Maready reported in an article April 4.</p><p>"When a nine-time convicted felon shoots another citizen and LPD handles the investigation as it did in this case, the citizens of Lakeland are not well served," Hill wrote in one of the letters.</p><p>"She simply couldn't recite any facts or details about the case," Hill told Maready about Wilson.</p><p>When police officers cannot give usable testimony on cases prosecuted in court, they leave the residents of Lakeland unprotected.</p><p>When such egregious flaws in Womack's officers turn up, and then turn up again, the police chief is failing to meet the minimum level of performance required for her position and for her department.</p>